Obesity has become an increasingly widespread and predominant health concern. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) obesity is considered a multifactorial chronic disease which is increasing in frequency (Curioni C, Andre C, Veras R. Weight reduction for primary prevention of stroke in adults with overweight or obesity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Oct. 18, 2006; (4):CD006062). Obesity, a condition of excessive body fat, generally results from more energy (food) being consumed than is being used. Stemming from excessive body fat, several health-related concerns such as increased morbidity have linked to obesity and being overweight as well as hypertension, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, stroke and even some forms of cancer (Curioni C, Andre C, Veras R. Weight reduction for primary prevention of stroke in adults with overweight or obesity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Oct. 18, 2006; (4):CD006062).
One of the main contributing factors in obesity is overeating, which results in an excess of energy being consumed in relation to the amount of being energy expended by an individual. The excess energy is then stored largely as fat. A simplified determination of an individual's body weight is essentially governed by the net effect of energy consumed versus energy expended. Daily energy expenditure consists of three components: basal metabolic rate, adaptive thermogenesis and physical activity (Westerterp K R. Diet induced thermogenesis. Nutr Metab (Lond). Aug. 18, 2004; 1(1):5). All of the aforementioned components must be in a balance of energy expenditure in an individual with energy or food intake such an individual does not gain nor lose body weight fat adipose tissue reduction. Therefore, in order that person may lose body weight from a reduction in adipose tissue, more energy must be expended by the individual than in taken into the body.
An undesired effect of increased accumulation of body fat is an increased oxidative stress through the generation of reactive oxygen species and the downregulation of antioxidative enzymes. This downregulation of antioxidative enzymes can contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis (Furukawa S, Fujita T, Shimabukuro M, Iwaki M, Yamada Y, Nakajima Y, Nakayama O, Makishima M, Matsuda M, Shimomura I. Increased oxidative stress in obesity and its impact on metabolic syndrome. J Clin Invest. 2004 December; 114(12):1752-61). Thus it is desirable to provide to the body of an individual means to reduce stored body fat and simultaneously offer protection from reactive oxygen species. It is likely that the oxidative stress associated with obesity involves mechanisms distinct from those solely due to mitochondrial beta-oxidation of fats. Increased oxidative stress due to increased body fat is thought to be an early contributor to hypertension, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, stroke and even some forms of cancer and is therefore an attractive target strategy for combating the negative effects of excessive body fat while aiming to reduce the volume of stored body in an individual.
With the unprecedented rise in obesity throughout the world, here exists both a need and want from individuals for improved aids, methods and interventions directed to reducing body fat and maintaining lowered levels of body fat, while also supplying beneficial antioxidant activity.